With just over four seconds remaining on the clock in overtime, Angel Reese made her second free throw to give the Dream a 101-98 lead in Game 2 of the semifinals. The New York Liberty took the ball out of bounds for a chance to tie the game, leaving everyone surprised that they didn’t use their reset timeout. Breanna Stewart later said that she had asked official Kevin Fahy if the Liberty had a reset timeout left, and he answered with a definitive no. But the Liberty hadn’t used theirs yet.
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In their statement, the league later said that after looking at multiple videos, Stewart was seen asking Fahy about the timeout, but due to overlapping conversations, there was confusion among multiple parties.
But why are we discussing this? Because despite the controversial call that many claimed cost the Liberty the series, the WNBA has named Fahy among the 14 referees who have been assigned a role in the WNBA Finals, and fans are not happy about it.
“This group of officials has earned the right to represent the WNBA and their profession on the ultimate stage, the Finals,” said Bethany Donaphin, Head of WNBA League Operations. “Being selected to officiate in the WNBA Finals is an opportunity they have worked for and is a testament to their on-court achievements this season and across their respective careers.”
The Liberty-Dream Game 2 became highly controversial, and there was no clear answer from the league. While some of the officials have officiated multiple WNBA Finals, giving Fahy a preference over other experienced officials was slammed by some fans.
“F*cking Kevin Fahy is here but not my boy Isaac Barnett?” a fan wrote, questioning the decision.
Barnett has 10 years of experience officiating in the WNBA. He has officiated 296 games so far. He was also one of the officiating crew in the 2025 WNBA Finals.
“WNBA referees are corrupt, so it doesn’t matter. Will not watch this trash,” another fan wrote.
In the last few years, the WNBA officials have come under heavy scrutiny. From coaches to players, they have also been criticized by fans as much. Perhaps putting together referees with cleaner records would have instilled confidence among fans.
“This is a joke. If I were as bad at my job as Kevin Fahy is, I’d not be employed,” another fan said.
Such reactions from fans just show a wider dissatisfaction from the fanbase about the WNBA’s officiating as a whole. However, targeting one referee is not very uncommon. Case in point, NBA fans have also expressed their discontent with Scott Foster and Tony Brothers.
“Bfffr why does Kevin’s lying a– still have a job? He showed his a– the last round, but he gets to officiate the finals ????” another fan threw a similar question.
If the league wants to build trust among fans and wants to be taken seriously, it can’t give a vague answer and field the same referee who has been linked to ending the Liberty’s season. Putting Fahy among the Finals referees was sure to bring extra attention. The league cannot afford it when officiating is already under scrutiny.
But Fahy wasn’t the only name on the list whose credibility was questioned by the fans.
“Timothy Greene admitted to a player that he didn’t know what the rules are, yet he’s officiating the finals,” the fan wrote.
The reaction comes after Sophie Cunningham’s viral claim. Earlier this month, the Indiana Fever star said that during Game 3 of the Fever-Aces first-round series, Greene said that he “didn’t know the rules” after he made a controversial call during the game.
Of 14 names, five referees are officiating their first Finals, and five have less than five Finals officiating experience. Roy Gulbeyan (20 years) and Maj Forsberg (12 years) have the most WNBA Finals experience.